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DRINKS.

305

opponents

declared

it

to

be

like

wine,

of

an

inebriating

nature

indeed,

a

sort

of

wine

itself;

and

went

so

far,

in

the

heat

of

argument,

as

to

say

that

all

who

drank

it

would

appear

at

the

general

resurrection

with

faces

blacker

than

the

bottoms

of

their

coffee-pots.

An

insult

of

this

sort

was

surely

sufficient

to

justify

a

prompt

adoption

of

the

severest

rejoinder

by

the

other

side,

and,

in

replying,

they

became

poetic.

Said

one

:

'*

It

is

a

dear

object

of

desire

to

the

collector

of

knowledge

;

It

is

the

drink

of

the

people

of

God,

and

in

it

is

health.

It's

odour

is

Musk,

it's

colour

Ink

:

The

wise

man

and

the

good

will

sip

it

pure

as

milk

in

its

innocence.

And

differing

from

it

but

in

blackness."

And

another

sang

"

Courtesy

is

the

coat

of

the

customers

in

a

Coffee-house.

The

Coffee-house

itself

is

as

Paradise

in

its

carpets,

its

com-

pany

and

its

tender

delights.

When

the

waiter

comes

with

the

Coffee

in

its

cup

of

porce-

lain,

sorrow

disappears,

and

all

anguish

sinks

under

its

dominion.

In

its

water

we

wash

away

our

impurities,

and

burn

out

our

solicitudes

in

its

fire.

The

man

who

has

looked

only

on

its

chafing

dish

will

say,

*

Fie

upon

the

Wine

and

the

Wine

Vats.*

Coffee

won

the

day.

There

is,

however,

another

story

of

its

introduction

how

in

the

far-off

past

a

poor

dervish,

who

lived

in

the

deserts

of

Arabia,

noticed

that

his

goats

came

home

every

evening

in

a

state

of

hilarity.

Unable

to

account

for

this,

he

watched

them,

and

found

them

u